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1816IIHF News from www.iifh.comTYPO3 - get.content.righthttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssThu, 22 Feb 2018 06:40:00 +0100Getting gold medal chillshttp://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/women/news/can-gmg-preview/
Veterans and rookies share the Olympic thrillsMeghan Agosta shared her thoughts about potentially joining an elite band of four-time Olympic champions when Canada goes up against the USA in Thursday's gold medal game, while rookie Emily Clark spoke about her feelings on the eve of her first Olympic showdown.

One thing is clear: the Olympic experience never gets old. With a shiny trio of gold medals back home, Agosta could be forgiven for a sense of ‘been there, done that’ going into her latest showdown. Instead, she speaks of the upcoming challenge with the enthusiasm of a rookie about to step into a thrilling unknown.

“It’s crazy that this is my fourth Olympics,” she said. “I kinda get the chills. Every time it’s new memories, a new team, a new journey. We have something special here, a great group of 23 girls who have become a close family.

Victory would place Agosta in exalted company, joining Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Caroline Ouellette as a four-time Olympic champion. Playing alongside those great names on three previous gold medal missions has left a big impression.

“At all the different Games I’ve played in, it was those leaders, those veteran players that stepped up and were ready to play and ready to calm the storm,” Agosta said. “That’s something that I’m going to bring to this final. Play calm, play free and have fun. That’s when I play at my best.

“We have a lot of veterans on team with a lot of that experience of playing these big games. There’s so much depth on this team, whether it’s someone’s first Olympics or fourth, we have so much talent and skill. I don’t think it – I know we’re ready.”

After learning from some of the best in the business, Agosta is now a senior player herself handing the knowledge and experience to the next generation. And the advice is pretty simple – take it easy.

“I tell them it’s just another hockey game,” she said. “We’ve played these girls in Four Nations and World Championships. Yeah, it’s the Olympic. Yeah, there might be more people in the stands. But we can use that to our advantage. Let’s just go out there and play, have fun, play free.”

For Clark, meanwhile, it’s her first time in an Olympic final – and the experience of the likes of Agosta and team captain Marie-Philip Poulin go a long way towards banishing any first-night nerves for the 22-year-old from the University of Wisconsin.

“It's just the way they don’t change their personalities or their behavior, that really helps us to be our normal selves,” Clark said. “As a team, we’ve been doing this all year, preparing for this game all year. Now it’s the fun part, so we just have to be ourselves.”

And what of captain Poulin, the key player in Canada’s last two Olympic triumphs with those huge clutch goals? “She’s got quite the resume, but when we look at her it’s not she’s done in those gold medal games but what she does every day that’s the difference-maker,” Clark added. “She brings it to every game no matter what the situation because she plays with her heart. I’ll expect nothing less out of her in the final.”

But for every first-timer, there’s always an extra ripple of excitement as a childhood dream turns into reality. Asked how many times she’d played out an Olympic final in her head, Clark smiled. “I don’t think I can put a number on that! It’s definitely something you dream of, a moment you work for. I’m going to be soaking it all in.”

The gold medal game isn’t just about the great North American rivalry though. As a showcase event, it’s a chance for women’s hockey to show its worth on the biggest stage possible. Two decades after the sport debuted in Nagano, the progress is clear – and Agosta reckons it’s accelerating with each passing Olympic cycle.

“Women’s hockey came a long way,” she said. “Just looking four years back to the last Olympics, the speed and skill has increased tremendously. It’s pretty amazing to see and there’s a lot of great women’s hockey players coming up. That’s what we want, more people to play the best and be the best.

“As the years go on people realise how amazing the talent and skill in women’s hockey is. I don’t know, I think it’s an amazing sport and there’s going to be millions and millions of Canadian fans cheering for us.”

ANDY POTTS]]>on topOlympics03 CanadaThu, 22 Feb 2018 06:40:00 +0100Can U.S. women end curse?http://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/women/news/usa-gmg-preview/
Eight-time world champs just won one OlympicsAs surprisingly the U.S. national women’s team won the first Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in 1998, as surprisingly it was left without gold ever since. The U.S. added three silver medals (2002, 2010, 2014) and a bronze (2006) to its collection.

While having won four consecutive Women’s World Championship titles and taken top spot in the IIHF Women’s World Ranking, the Americans were left in the shadow of Canada at the last Olympics too thanks to Canada’s late come-from-behind win in Sochi (watch the full game here).

The excitement for revenge is tremendous on the U.S. squad coached by Robb Stauber, a former Team USA and Los Angeles Kings goaltender who was the assistant four years ago in Sochi.

“Let’s be honest. There is unfinished business. But you’ve got to come at it from the fresh perspective. Hardships drive a certain number of players that were part of it. But you do truly have to just let go and learn from it, which they have,” Stauber said.

“They want to come out of the Olympics saying: ‘We’re the best team in the world!’ [Sochi 2014] is in the past. They also know it is important to put that in the past. We are not talking about it. We are in South Korea and it is 2018 and we want a different result.”

Click here to watch a video feature on Stauber.

Stauber’s players speak with the same voice and are eager to win their first Olympic gold medal to add to their collection of gold from Women’s Worlds.

“There is nothing I can do about that. I can just get myself ready,” Hilary Knight said about the Olympic final four years ago. “Anytime you can win gold it is game-changing. It is game-changing for our sport in our country. It connects us to people who inspire. Winning would be huge. The U.S. wants to be No.1 in everything and we have all been raised as awesome competitors so at the end of the day we want to win.”

Being in the gold medal game against the U.S. for the third consecutive time is exactly what she wanted: “It's honestly a dream come true. This is the world’s biggest stage. This is the game that you want, the game we've been dreaming of and to have another opportunity to get back here is huge.”

Also Kacey Bellamy said after the last practice she’s just focusing on the new final. “We have done such a great job leaving the past in the past,” she said and added about the ten players who were not in Sochi: “We have tried to explain to them what it felt like but it is great that they have not felt that. I just think it is a great rivalry and it has been for years. It will be all about heart and speed and who can execute the best and the little details.”

The U.S. have had losses against Canada in exhibition games and also here in Gangneung in the preliminary round. But the past has shown that this means little for the gold medal game between these classic rivals.

“We know each other very well and it will be a hard-fought game. That is expected and we want to make it miserable on our opponents to try to defend us, period. So that means we have to move, we have to be fast with our feet, our hands, our mind, everything. And we want to make it miserable on them to defend in their end, which means pucks to the net, pucks to the net, pucks to the net. Over time that is a tough thing to defend against,” Coach Stauber said.

And Meghan Duggan added: “I know what to expect from my team. We are going to come out fast and we are ready to go!”

Still, there was the 2-1 loss in the last game in the preliminary round Team USA must build on and improve if it wants the stars and stripes flag on top tomorrow.

“We had a lot of point-blank scoring opportunities and it’s just, we got to finish. We got to find a way to get those scrums in the net. We had a couple literally inches away from just putting some in so we've got to find a way to just get those in the net,” said Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson.

“We were happy with how we played. We outshot them two to one and we're not going to dwell on it. We’re going to build off what we did and maybe fine-tune a few things, but we’re confident to stick with what we’ve been doing and what has gotten us success the last few years.”

Also her twin sister is looking forward to this much anticipated game: “You train four years for this one game, but the time that it takes and the amount of work and sacrifice it takes, not just the 23 players on this roster but those who worked hard to get on this team and did not make it. We are a tight-knit group. This is what we worked for, the chance to win a gold medal.”

The game will be played late, but not too late night in North America. 13:10 Korean time is 11:10pm ET and 8:10pm PT. Watch it on TV with the Olympic broadcaster in your country or follow the IIHF.com live ticker or our live tweets.

What has impressed you most about both the American and Canadian teams?

Podnieks: Both teams continue to set the bar high. When you watch the other teams play, it’s a good level of women’s hockey. When you watch the North Americans, it’s exceptional, both for skill and intensity. The players are simply faster and better in every way, and it makes you appreciate just how much better they are than the rest.

Aykroyd: No team moves the puck better on the power play than the Americans when they’re on. They got it going on their last three goals versus Finland: Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson’s big one-timer, Hilary Knight’s subtle tip, and Dani Cameranesi’s tic-tac-toe finish. For Canada, how about that goaltending with two goals allowed in four games? Genevieve Lacasse stood on her head against the Americans in the 2-1 round-robin win, and we all know what Shannon Szabados can do as the winning goalie in the last two Olympic finals.

What do you see as a potential Achilles’ heel for both sides?

Aykroyd: For both sides, it’s mental. The Americans must overcome their block about winning the Olympic final. They’ve fallen short in a different way in each of the last three gold medal games against Canada: not capitalizing on eight straight power plays in 2002, getting shut out in 2010, surrendering a late lead in 2014. It’s similar to the San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their talent is unquestioned; now it’s about their ability to deliver under the brightest spotlight. Despite being the four-time defending Olympic champions, Canada generally does a good job of avoiding overconfidence, but that does sometimes stumble Canadian teams who get too caught up in the notion that “hockey is our birthright.” Of course, there’s no reason for them to get cocky after losing the last four Women’s Worlds to the States.

Potts: The group stage game didn’t give us many answers: both teams could plausibly argue it backs their case. For the USA, it’s hard to imagine another goaltending performance like Lacasse’s – or another four shots off the piping without going in. For Canada, winning in a game where it was outplayed can reinforce the belief that the Olympics is its lucky tournament, breeding either confidence or complacency, depending on your point of view.

Who is a player you’ll be watching closely on each team?

Podnieks: The best players have to be the best players, so how can you not watch Marie-Philip Poulin? She scored the winning goals in 2010 and 2014, is the captain, and is playing just as well this year. For the U.S., as Kendall Coyne goes, so goes the team. She may be small but she might well be the best player in the world right now.

Potts: For Canada, Melodie Daoust, recalled to the team after a long post-Sochi hiatus and making a big scoring contribution here. It’s the kind of narrative that makes the Games compelling, so she pips Poulin – always a go-to player for a clutch play – on my hit list. For the USA, it feels like we’re trying to identify that potential Poulin equivalent, the woman who can deliver the big, big goal when it’s needed. While the likes of Dani Cameranesi and Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson are leading the American scoring, it’s hard to shake the feeling that an old hand, a Hilary Knight or an Amanda Kessel, might be the one to lift the Olympic curse.

What is your prediction?

Aykroyd: The Americans were the better team in terms of puck possession and chances generated in that round-robin loss to Canada. They’ve found a way at the last four Women’s Worlds. They’re overdue at the Olympics. My head says 3-2 U.S. But as Sochi showed, you can never, ever count out Canada, and it could just as easily go the other way.

Potts: Would I place a bet on the outcome of this game? No. There are persuasive arguments in favor of both teams, and it’s fair to assume we’ll see another tight encounter, probably settled by one goal. I’d take the USA to sneak it this time: that run of World Championship wins maybe means Canada no longer gets inside U.S. heads in quite the same way, and the group stage game here felt like a bit of a steal for the Canadians. If the USA recreates a similar level of offence in the final, it’s hard to imagine a second goaltending masterclass saving the Canadians again.

Podnieks: The score? I’ll say 3-2. The team? I'm not so sure about that. I have a better feeling about Canada this year than in 2014 (when they won), but the Americans are just so dangerous when they’re on their game. Yes, that’s right – that’s me, sitting on the fence.

What’s the potential ripple effect from this gold medal game for women’s hockey worldwide?

Aykroyd: Gold is the only medal that really registers in the American consciousness. If they win, you’ll not only see the U.S. women on the late-night talk show circuit and Wheaties boxes, but also a massive uptick in hockey registration among girls and women across the U.S. – and a commensurate investment. It’ll be a new “Miracle on Ice” for the smartphone and Wonder Woman generation. Given the number of Canadian and European players in U.S. college hockey, the effects will transcend America’s borders. A fifth straight Canadian gold would be special, too. It would reinforce the classic Hockey Canada slogan, “It’s Our Game.” Would it resonate as much outside Canada? Probably not. But it would in all likelihood model what other national women’s programs are striving for: the mental toughness and unwillingness to take shortcuts that still make Canada the hockey nation to beat.

Potts: There’s a slight frustration that, at the end of another Olympic cycle, we’re still looking for a team that can close the gap on these two. Having a viable gold-medal contender from outside of North America feels like the moment when a ripple might become a wave of global interest, but we’re some way from seeing that happen. That said, bringing the two best teams in the world to another showcase game can only help to persuade more people that women’s hockey is well worth the effort.

Podnieks: Any time these teams play at the Olympics for gold, they maximize promoting the game. Hopefully, young girls in countries all around the world will be inspired to play. That’s all anyone can hope for. That and a great game, of course.]]>on leftOlympics03 Canada20 United StatesThu, 22 Feb 2018 06:35:00 +0100Es ist ein Wunder!http://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/men/news/swe-ger-14/
Patrick Reimer scores at 1:30 of OTPatirck Reimer drove hard to the goal, skated around three Swedes in the process, and banged his own rebound past goalie Viktor Fasth just 90 seconds into a 10-minute four-on-four overtime to give Germany an improbable victory over Sweden.

To add to the drama, the play went to video review to determine if the puck had crossed the goal line. It had.

The win is the greatest for the country since February 14, 1976, when it beat the United States, 4-1, to earn its only Olympic medal, a bronze. But that was as West Germany.

But since Germany became one country in 1990, there is no result that comes close to tonight's shocker. The team raced to a 2-0 lead, fought hard to make it 3-1 midway through the third, and blew a two-goal lead before Reimer's heroics.

'I’m proud of the guys, how they played, how they worked," said Marcel Goc. "We had a couple of huge blocks from our guys. We tried everything we had, and it was enough today. In OT, everything can happen. One lucky bounce or one deflection and the puck goes in and the game is over. Reimer made a really nice move, I thought, took the puck to the net and put it in."

This was not vintage Tre Kronor of Forsberg and Sundin and Sedins and Backstrom. This was more like Tva Kronor (two crowns) or Ett Kronor (one crown). Sweden si going home, and Germany will play Canada in the semi-finals, the winner going for gold, the loser for bronze.

Either way, Germany will play for a medal, a possibility no one could have taken seriously two weeks ago.

It’s huge for our sport, Goc continued, "especially at the Olympics. It’s not just World Championships, where it’s just hockey or hockey fans. It’s a big platform for us. This game was live in Germany, too. It was a good time. It’s a good advertisement for us. I hope we got some more fans."

We’re really just excited that we have a chance to play for a medal, Goc summed up. "This is a dream come true for us. We might need a few minutes here or a night to let it set and understand what we did here."

For us, it’s a huge step forward. Four years ago we didn’t qualify to go to Sochi. This time, I thought we played a great qualification. It’s started to pay off, the work we put in.

Sometimes number can be deceiving. They don’t tell the whole story even while they appear to. Consider the shots on goal totals for the first period. The numbers show the Swedes outshot Germany 15-10. Nothing special, right? Wrong.

The Swedes got 13 of their shots before Germany got its first. Sweden had an early power play and several great scoring chances, but they couldn’t bulge the twine.

Then, inexplicably, as if a switch went off, Germany gained some confidence, and then got a power play. They took 10:10 to register their first shot, but at 13:48 they opened the scoring when veteran Christian Ehrhoff’s floating point shot drifted under the arm of Viktor Fasth for a stunning goal.

Just 29 seconds later, they scored again! This time it was Marcel Noebels, who was in the right place at the right time to flick a loose puck past a scrum at 14:17 to make it 2-0 Germany.

In all, Germany had ten shots in a row before Sweden got a couple of late ones on Danny aus den Birken, but the shots totals didn’t tell the story of this improbable 2-0 lead for the massive underdog Germans.

One would think a team like Sweden, with such a long and rich history of winning would have re-grouped in the first intermission and came out flying to start the second. Well, that didn’t happen.

In fact, Germany had a good chance early, and then at the three-minute mark had a most extraordinary flurry of five shots at goal in about as many seconds. Fasth made two great saves and three shots narrowly missed the target, but it was clear by now the Swedes just didn’t have that high gear to switch to when they needed it.

Shots on goal in the second was a conservative 5-4 for the Germans, who protected their lead well without falling into a defensive shell.

In the third the tne changed as soon as Sweden coach Rikard Gronborg put out 17-year-od Rasmus Dahlin for his first shift of the night. The Swedes had good pressure, and on Dahlin's third shift his point shot wound up ni a scramble in front where Anton Lander put it in.

Two minutes later, though, Dahlin was caught up ice on a rush and Dominik Kahun beat Fasth from a distance with a wrist shot going the other way. That gave the Germans a 3-1 lead with 11:32 remaining.

But Sweden came back on a power play a minute later, Patrik Hersley wiring a one-timer to cut the lead in half.

The Swedes completed their comeback at 11:37 when Mikael Wikstrand's long wrist shot went all the way past a screened aus den Birken. That set the stage for overtime.

ANDREW PODNIEKS]]>on topOlympics08 Germany18 Swedenon leftWed, 21 Feb 2018 17:01:00 +0100Canada into SFhttp://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/men/news/can-fin-qf/
FIN frustrated as Noreau puts CAN throughCanada's dreams of a third successive Olympic gold are still alive after a narrow victory over Finland. For the Nordic nation, though, defeat in this quarter-final match-up means there's no chance to improve on its Sochi bronze.

For these teams, it was the biggest meeting since the 2016 World Championship Final in Moscow. On that occasion, Canada claimed a 2-0 verdict inspired by Connor McDavid in a performance that announced the youngster on the world stage.

Tonight offered the chance for Eeli Tolvanen to do likewise. In a clash of two teams relying on solid defence, his pace and flair had the potential to forge the breakthrough for the Finns. Indeed, in a first period that produced few incidents of note, Tolvanen provided one moment of excitement when he got away from Marc-Andre Gragnani with a scintillating burst of speed down the right. However, he ran out of space to get his shot away and Ben Scrivens was able to smother the chance. It was the brightest moment the 18-year-old Jokerit Helsinki prospect could produce all night. The Canadian defence was at its smothering best, chances were hard to come by.

In the end, though, it was a very different player – and a very different play – that decided a hard-fought battle between two teams with genuine medal ambitions. Noreau, a 30-year-old defenceman who has spent the bulk of his career in Switzerland after making a handful of NHL appearances, smashed home the winning goal of the game early in the third period. If Tolvanen’s game promises rapier-like thrusts, Noreau’s is built around the power of the blunt implement. He’d already tested his slap shot against Switzerland, and tonight he unleashed it again in fine style to smash an Eric O’Dell feed past Mikko Koskinen.

O'Dell, who won the face-off to set up the vital goal, was full of praise for his colleague.

Playing with Max is just awesome, he said. "He's a hard-nosed guy, we kinda read off each other, we've got some good chemistry, same as Klinker [Rob Klinkhammer] and I think we'e been really effective in the last couple of games and coach likes putting us out there. It's fun playing with the guys.

Max just plays confident out there, he knows what to say on and off the ice to spark the boys. It definitely really helps us.

Noreau’s defensive contribution was also huge as Canada battled from start to finish to stifle the Finns. At times, it made for a difficult game to watch. The first period was almost bereft of goalmouth action save for that Tolvanen rush and a couple of misjudged glove saves. First, Scrivens failed to hold on to an effort from Jarno Koskiranta, forcing Mat Robinson to make the clearance. Then, right at the end of the period, Mikko Koskinen fumbled a Chay Genoway effort. In fairness to the goalies, there were so few shots on either net that it would have been hard to maintain concentration.

Canada began the second period in more aggressive fashion, but it was Scrivens who faced the first real emergency. The Canadian goalie took a pounding when O’Dell’s check sent Veli-Matti Savinainen crashing into him. By the time everyone had disentangled from the net, and each other, Scrivens needed a moment to gather himself before continuing with the game. However, after making one more save, the Salavat Yulaev Ufa man went to the bench, replaced by Kevin Poulin. The two goalies combined to turn away 21 Finnish attempts and bring home the W. Like O'Dell said, hard-nosed.

When you see guys going down, getting crazy blocks on shots, it gets the whole bench up, the HC Sochi forward said. "That's just the Canada way, that's how we play. We're a hard-nosed team and when it comes down to it we're going to do anything we can to get the win and it paid off tonight."

Finnish forward Oskar Osala endured a frustrating evening. "Our game plan was the same as it always is: play active, forecheck hard, get turnovers and create chances off those," he said. "I thought we did that well. Especially in the second period we had some great chances and if we could have buried one of those it would have been a different story."

Poulin’s first meaningful action was to block an angled Petri Kontiola shot, but Koskinen was the still the busier of the goalies. Even so, Finland’s defence was adept at keeping the Canadians on the outside, and apart from one link-up between Derek Roy and Rene Bourque there was relatively little beyond the routine for the SKA St. Petersburg netminder to contend with as Canada kept getting bodies on the line and blocking the puck at every turn.

Once Noreau broke the deadlock, Finland needed to raise its attacking game in the final frame. But too often its raids crashed on a red wall of Canadian defence, with Poulin well-protected by his team. Even Finland's final surge, withdrawing Koskinen with 90 seconds to play, could not find a crack in the armour as Canada moved into the last four once again.

And, for a group of players who never expected to represent their country at the Olympics, that's a huge emotion.

It's obviously a very emotional time for all of us just even playing in the Olympics and playing for our country, said Chay Genoway. "We knew all of Canada was watching this one so there's a lot of emotion. In a 1-0 game there's a lot of excitement and tension, we were just trying to stay calm of the bench and make plays."

ANDY POTTS]]>on leftOlympics03 Canada06 Finlandon rightWed, 21 Feb 2018 16:58:00 +0100Finns edge OAR for bronzehttp://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/women/news/fin-oar-bmg/
Tapani sets speed record as Suomi celebratesThis represented a major bounceback after a disappointing fifth-place finish four years ago in Sochi. It was a joyful moment for coach Pasi Mustonen's team, which came to Korea expecting to medal and came through in the end.

Winning a medal was our goal coming into the Olympics, and we know on a good day we have a chance even against the U.S. or Canada, said Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski. "But the U.S. was really good [to beat Finland] in the semi-final, so this was what we wanted to win today."

The Finns also came third in the inaugural Nagano 1998 tournament and in Vancouver 2010.

Susanna Tapani set the pace with a goal and an assist. Her 2-0 marker, just 10 seconds into the second period, set a new Olympic record for the fastest goal from the start of a period. The old record of 19 seconds belonged to Slovakia’s Janka Culikova, who scored in the third period of a 5-2 loss to Switzerland on 17 February, 2010.

Petra Nieminen and Linda Valimaki also scored for Finland. Top Finnish netminder Noora Raty, who played every game, outduelled her counterpart Nadezhda Morozova. Shots were even at 22 apiece.

This is awesome! said Raty. "It's one of the best days of my life. We've been waiting for this for four years, ever since Sochi. We beat Sweden in overtime in Vancouver, and that was a great feeling to beat your biggest rival. But we were underdogs in that game; we were favourites today, I think, so there was more pressure."

We played together, and we played as a team, said Valimaki. "That's the main reason we won. It's an amazing feeling, and now we can celebrate the medal."

Lyudmila Belyakova potted a goal and an assist for the OAR team and captain Olga Sosina had a single.

In a way, the tournament was still successful for us, but if I had a medal around my neck I'd be a lot happier now, said Sosina.

Indeed, it wasn't all bad news for the red-and-white squad, which played better than in the 5-1 group stage loss to Finland. Fourth place marks the best Olympic finish ever for a Russian women’s team. Russia came fifth in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Finnish forward Riikka Valila is the last remaining active player from the 1998 Olympics, which she led in scoring. At 44, she continues to excel. Her top line with Tapani and Michelle Karvinen was dangerous throughout the game.

After Sochi, everything was chaos, but then we started to build our team, both the players and the organization, said Valila. "Our goal was to win a medal for the last four years. "

This was a tightly contested affair after both teams lost their semi-finals 5-0, Finland to the Americans and the OAR women to the Canadians.

Facing the tournament's most-penalized team, the Finns drew first blood on their first power play. Minnamari Tuominen stepped in from the centre point to loft a backhand and Nieminen deftly tipped it in mid-air past the Russian netminder for her third goal of the Games at 2:23.

It was the second time Finland’s youngest player has opened the scoring in these playoffs. The 18-year-old Nieminen also did it in the 7-2 quarter-final win over Sweden.

We had a lot of good scorers in the tournament, and we have a new generation coming, like Nieminen and the younger girls, said Hiirikoski. "It's nice to see them step up as well."

The Russians had their chances as the period went on. Raty came out to block Belyakova on an OAR outnumbered rush. Later, Alevtina Shtaryova wristed one that hit Raty’s glove and then the post. In the last minute of the first, Ronja Savolainen capitalized on a Russian pratfall to go one-on-one with Morozova, but the puck drifted off her stick.

To start the middle frame, Finland got a two-goal lead thanks to its top line. Off the opening faceoff, Karvinen and Tapani executed a lovely give-and-go, and Tapani scored high to the stick side.

The Russians didn’t capitulate. At 2:40, Sosina one-timed Belyakova’s cross-ice pass over Raty’s glove to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Finns overcompensated with physicality and the OAR team hemmed them in with an extended power play, including a 5-on-3 for 0:39, but couldn’t tie it up.

Finland grabbed a 3-1 lead at 12:18. Venla Hovi went cross-ice to a streaking Valimaki and she cut to the net made a great backhand deke to beat Morozova.

With just over two minutes left in the second, Belyakova’s hip slammed into Raty’s head as she split the Finnish defence on a wild rush. The Finnish netminder was all right, but Belyakova headed off for goalie interference.

At 6:03 of the third, Belyakova executed the play she wanted when she got in for another solo rush and tucked a backhand home to make it 3-2 on a Russian power play.

They played well, especially in the third, said Hiirikoski. "They did everything to score but we just needed to move the puck and control the puck in their zone."

With five minutes left in regulation, Finland's Isa Rahunen took a bodychecking penalty on Anna Shokhina in the corner. It could have proved costly, but since Shokhina promptly bopped Hiirikoski with a high-stick, the Russian advantage was nullified.

Assiduous Finnish checking kept the OAR team from pulling Morozova until an icing call on Finland with nine seconds left. Off the faceoff, the Finns tied the puck up along the boards, and celebrated with gloves and sticks cast away when the horn sounded. Karvinen leapt into the taller Mira Jalosuo's arms for a hug while the goalies exchanged chest bumps.

Shokhina was assessed a major and game misconduct for kicking at the end.

All game long, Russian supporters among the Kwandong Hockey Centre crowd of 3,217 fervently chanted their country’s name. However, while the OAR men’s team was busy demolishing Norway 6-1 in a quarter-final, the women weren’t able to defeat their own Nordic opponents. Russian women's hockey still needs the right kind of support to hit the next level.

We have a very good team, a very young team with a lot of potential, said Sosina.

It was the first Olympic bronze battle between these two sides. At the Women’s Worlds, Russia beat Finland for third in the 2001, 2013, and 2016 bronze medal games. Finland returned the favor in 2011 and 2015.

Finland owns 12 Women’s World Championship bronze medals, more than any other nation. Despite losing 3-1 to the U.S. and 4-1 to Canada in the group stage prior to a 5-0 quarter-final loss to the Canadians, the Finns remain the team most capable of challenging North America's hegemony. They will host the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship and hope to take that next step in front of their loyal fans.

We want to be the best, said Karvinen. "We've been trying to catch up with the U.S. and Canada. Some games we do, but we couldn't in the semi-finals. But the future will change. We're hungry and we have the support."

Lucas Aykroyd]]>on topOlympics15 Russia06 Finlandon lefton rightWed, 21 Feb 2018 16:20:00 +0100Team OAR thumps Norwayhttp://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/men/news/oar-nor-qf/
The Russians power on to a SF with 6-1 winThe Olympic Athletes from Russia put the lights out on overmatched Norway in the first period, and later completely cut the power with a smooth 6-1 win in Wednesday’s second quarter-final at Gangneung Hockey Centre.

Nikita Gusev contributed the game winning goal and had two assists, while Vasili Koshechkin stopped 13 of 14 shots sent his way.

It will be Team OAR and the Czech Republic in a semi-final.

The Russians arrived to the first period on-time with their skill and ingenuity packed.

But it was a random bounce that led to their first goal.

The helpful Ilya Kablukov whipped a dump-in attempt off a cringing linesman, dropping the puck in Mikhail Grigorenko’s lap. He launched a score upstairs at 8:54 of the first period.

Grigorenko said there was intent behind his team's quick start, "We prepared seriously for this game. In the locker room before the game you could feel that everyone was pumped for it, ready for a tough game."

At 13:25 of the first, with the Russians on a power play, Nikita Gusev spotted an open net and forced a sharp angle shot behind Lars Haugen to make it 2-0.

Then, with 40 seconds left in the first period, Vyacheslav Voinov snapped one in to continue the onslaught.

The Russians owned the shot clock 19-2 after the first 20 minutes.

Alexander Bonsaksen, Norway’s overtime hero from a night ago, found the back of the net at 7:21 of the second period by beating a confused Koshechkin.

Norway went win-less in the preliminary round, but enjoyed their first Olympic victory in almost 24 years by eliminating Slovenia in overtime on Tuesday.

Less than a minute after the Bonsaksen tally, on a power play, Sergei Kalinin jammed in a feed from Ilya Kovalchuk to restore the three-goal margin.

Bonsaksen looked back on the tournament after the game, "It's been a good experiene for all the guys," he said. Previous to his overtime winner against Slovenia, the Norwegians had lost 11-straight Olympic games.

When you reach the quarter-final you want to move on to the next round, said Norway's Patrick Thoresen, "But we came up against a big contender today and we couldn't hold off their offence, they were too strong for us."

Nikita Nesterov and Ivan Telegin would also score for Team OAR, which had six different goal scorers, and for each of them, tonight was their first goal of the tournament.

The Russians now have 20 goals in four games.

The OAR dominated Slovenia and the USA after a first game slip-up against Slovakia. Observers believe they have improved each game.

We're a very hungry group of guys, so we just need to prepare and take one game at a time and the next game will be the biggest one, said Kovalchuk, whose set-up on the Kalinin goal was his sixth point.

Callum Ng]]>on leftOlympics15 Russia13 Norwayon rightWed, 21 Feb 2018 16:19:00 +0100Schutz: “Nothing to lose”http://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/men/news/schutz/
German forward excited after eliminating SwissFelix Schutz, naturally, has no memory of this. He wasn’t born till 1987. But the well-travelled veteran German forward does have a broad international perspective – and at least a little bit of short-term memory, unlike many of his colleagues.

After Yannic Seidenberg’s overtime goal at 0:36 gave the Germans a 2-1 qualification playoff victory over archrival Switzerland, it’s time for another do-or-die game against Sweden. For Schutz, the idea of topping Tre Kronor in Wednesday’s late quarter-final is like assembling IKEA furniture: challenging, but not completely impossible.

“We played Sweden just a couple of days ago,” Schutz said. “We all know that Sweden is a good hockey country, but I’m sure they respect us. I talked to some guys I played with in Russia, and they said we play really good hockey. So we’ve gotta come out and play with confidence. We have nothing to lose, you know.”

Will the German legs be too heavy to keep up with a talented Swedish team that edged them 1-0 on Viktor Stalberg’s early tally on 9 February in the group stage?

“I think that when it comes down to games like this, you play nine months in the regular season,” Schutz said. “Every player plays a lot in their club and the conditioning is fine. I think there is no problem. You should be able to play two games in two nights.”

After amassing a team-leading 18 goals and 26 assists with the DEL’s Kolner Haie this season, Schutz is still seeking his first point in his first Olympics. But the seven-time IIHF World Championship participant knows how to play in all situations against almost any type of European opposition.

Look at Schutz’s pro career: his previous stint with Kolner Haie was in 2012-13. Just in the years since then, the 181-cm, 89-kg Erding native has also suited up for EHC Red Bull Munchen, the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok, Avangard Omsk, Dinamo Riga, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, and Sweden’s Rogle BK. And he knows the more rough-and-tumble North American style from two years in the QMJHL and two more with the AHL’s Portland Pirates.

So when you get around that much, a rematch in Korea with the 2017 World Champions doesn’t faze you much.

Top defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, averaging 21:09 a night through four games, wasn’t fazed either after taking a tough hit from Cody Almond nine seconds into the qualification playoff game that saw the Swiss-Canadian forward ejected with a five-minute major for checking to the head. Ehrhoff, 35, soon returned to the ice, and that fired Schutz up.

“It was big,” Schutz said. “I played with Ehrhoff in the club so I know that he’s not a guy who gives up quick. I was pretty sure that he was coming back and he wants to play. He’s an older guy now and it could be his last Olympics. I was positive he’s coming back. He finished solid.”

“Solid” has generally been the kindest word to describe the German national team over the years. They’re the kind of guys you want to fix your plumbing, chop down your tree, or (maybe) assemble your IKEA furniture. But putting the puck in the net rarely comes easy. Stereotypically, a quarter-final exit is as good as it gets for the Germans, except on certain magical occasions, like the 2010 IIHF World Championship in Cologne and Mannheim, where home-ice advantage spurred Uwe Krupp’s crew to a surprising fourth place.

However, under current head coach Marco Sturm – the highest-scoring German in NHL history and recently signed to a national team extension through 2022 – things are trending in a different direction, according to Schutz. Even though Sturm has also been limited to quarter-final exits at the Worlds (seventh place in 2016 and eighth in 2017), he’s certainly not preaching the kill-the-game approach of, say, the early-2000’s Hans Zach era.

“The thing is that we play more of a system now,” Schutz said. “I think in the years before, I don’t want to say we didn’t play a system, but Marco played a lot of years in the NHL, and now we play offensively. I remember maybe five years ago we’d sit back and play the trap. Now we’re starting to forecheck. We play a good system. I know in the clubs too, Red Bull Munich plays a little bit offensive hockey and you can see. We can play with pressure now.”

But will it be enough? The Germans still haven’t scored more than two goals in a game here in Korea.

In nine all-time Olympic meetings with Germany, Sweden has eight wins and one tie. That deadlock, by the way, was 1-1 in 1956. So the Germans may struggle to assemble that Billy bookcase.

However, who knows what could happen if goalie Danny aus den Birken stands on his head and the Germans throw enough pucks on the Swedish net while also playing tight, physical defence? Schutz takes heart from that previous 1-0 loss, although he’s also realistic and candid.

“I talked to some guys and they said: ‘[Expletive deleted]! You could have won and it would have been fair. You deserved it.’ But it’s a new game, so I’m sure the Swedish guys will put a notch on top of this. So it’ll be even harder for us.”

Still, consider this: Sweden, historically so reliable at the start of the playoffs, has lost three of its last five Olympic quarter-finals (1998, 2002, 2010), and two of its last three World Championship quarter-finals (2015, 2016). And for the Germans, it would be a glorious upset if they could move on and get a shot at their third medal in Olympic history (they won bronze in 1932 and 1976). Some things are worth waiting for.

LUCAS AYKROYD]]>on leftOlympics08 Germanyon rightWed, 21 Feb 2018 16:18:00 +0100Czechs shoot into SFhttp://pyeongchang2018.iihf.hockey/men/news/cze-usa-qf/
Koukal strike settles shootout against USAFour years ago these teams met at this stage in Sochi, and the USA's NHL-powered roster eased to a comfortable 5-2 victory. In Korea, things were very different: two rosters dominated by European-based players battled each other to a standstill before Petr Koukal won it for the Czechs in a shootout.

Koukal was the only player to find the net after the teams tied 2-2 over 70 minutes of hockey, claiming the game-winner here after also scoring in his country's shootout success over Canada in the group phase.

The Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg forward, 32, talked us through some of the mind games on the bench during the shoot-out.

I was talking to the guys on the bench, he said. "The goalie saw (us) play Canada in a shootout in the group and I was asking the guys about my shootout, and all the guys decided to make a little switch in the running order beforehand. So I shot, and I'm so happy that it was the goal."

But he wasn't ready to talk up any nerves of steel, despite being the only player to score from 10 post-game shots. ""It's pressure on everyone," Koukal added. "It doesn't matter. It's the quarterfinal in Olympic Games and we don't play every day in this tournament and for me it's the pressure, too, and I am so happy I scored in the shootout and won the game."

At the other end, goalie Pavel Francouz denied all five American attempts and secured the victory when he got behind Bobby Butler's final shot for the USA.

I just try to stick with the guy, Francouz said. "I don't make any moves and wait for the shot or the deke. I had a little luck there too, so I'm happy that we won."

Watching on from the bench, defenceman Vojtech Mozik described is as unbelievable when Francouz closed out Butler to secure the victory.

It's something you dream of, it always is, he said. "You just want to keep moving through the tournament and here we are in the semi-finals. It's an unbelievable feeling, and we're so happy."

It was also a revenge win for the Czechs, stopped at this stage four years ago by the Americans, and took the team to the final four for the first time since 2006. Coincidentally, that was the last time the USA failed to reach the medal games.

Ryan Donato admitted that the loss - and especially the manner of it - was hard to take. "It's tough to watch everything that you've worked hard for come down to one goal in a shootout but that's hockey and at the end of the day hopefully we'll learn from our experiences and come back better hockey players."

Goalie Ryan Zapolski, at the opposite end of his career from the college player Donato, was more philosophical after a tight loss. "Being at the Games was an amazing experience for all of us and something we should all be really proud of," he said. "I think maybe in 10, 15 years when we're done playing this is something we'll look back on and say it's probably the best moment of our careers."

But it was never plain sailing for the Czechs. They had to come from behind before tying 2-2 in regulation, and might have lost it all in the closing minutes when Brian O'Neill rattled Francouz's crossbar with seconds left to play. However, Josef Jandac's team has plenty of experience in tight games here - a 2-1 victory over Korea, that shoot-out against the Canadians and a 4-1 margin over Switzerland that was bolstered by two empty-net goals - and played with great composure, even after going behind early on.

Traktor Chelyabinsk netminder Francouz added: "It was hard for us when they tied the game. We had a lot of pressure in that second period, they just had one breakaway and scored on us. We just kept working, we had some luck in the end because they hit the bar, but that's hockey."

The USA’s Terry-Donato axis did the damage for the opening goal. The duo, both still playing college hockey, got to work around the left-hand circle, with Troy Terry feeding back to Ryan Donato. His shot flashed through a screen inadvertently created by the Czech duo of Roman Horak and Ondrej Vitasek and beat the unsighted Pavel Francouz.

That rocked the Czechs back after an early, needless U.S. penalty had given Josef Jandac’s team a platform for its offence. But gradually the pressure began to build in front of Ryan Zapolski in the American net, with Roman Cervenka finding a couple of opportunities to menace. His first chance came after the defence clumsily turned over the puck to Tomas Mertl, and he fed Cervenka for a shot that Zapolski pushed away. Soon after, Cervenka had a second shooting chance, but this time the goalie saw it all the way and made a comfortable glove save.

That flurry lifted the Czechs, and the tying goal was not long in coming. Jan Kovar won a face-off on the left, fed the puck to Jan Kolar at the point. His shot crashed in off the far post, with Zapolski unable to respond.

The Amur Khabarovsk D-man paid tribute to his team's resilience in the competition so far. "It's like every game we get into a difficult situation, but we find a way to win," he said. "But, yes, we were nervous. Every game is so tight, and it's always about just one goal. But we still believed in ourselves."

Tempers spilled over at the end of the frame. John McCarthy was assessed for a boarding call after an incident in the corner, and players from both teams converged to debate the matter further. The subsequent power play at the start of the second period set the tone for what was to follow- plenty of Czech pressure, and limited opportunities for the Americans.

That paid off for the Czechs when a Martin Ruzicka effort was only cleared as far as Tomas Kundratek on the point. The Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod defenceman punched a slap shot through a crowded slot to give his team the lead for the first time in the game as Tomas Mertl made a nuisance of himself in front of Zapolski.

And it seemed that the Americans, limited to a solitary shot on goal through 10 minutes of the frame, would face further problems when Mark Arcobello was sent to the box. Instead, a short-handed goal drew the USA level. It started with a wild Tomas Repik shot flashing well over the bar before the puck bounced kindly for Brian O’Neill. He produced a defence-splitting pass from blue line to blue line to release Jim Slater and, with the Czech D-men scrambling to get back, the Swiss-based forward advanced to zing a wrist shot through the gap between Francouz’s pad and blocker.

That was the end of the scoring in regulation, but the Americans were millimetres away from victory in the 58th minute when Brian O'Neill rushed down the left and rattled the crossbar before seeing the puck bounce just beyond Broc Little as he looked for a rebound. The Czechs could not find such a clear opening, although Lukas Radil drew a good pad save from Zapolski and a late, late Michal Birner raid set nerves jangling around the USA net.

Overtime began with the USA on a power play, but the team failed to get a shot at Francouz as the Czech PK ran down the clock. Back at four-on-four play, the clearest shooting lanes opened up for D-men, with Bobby Sanguinetti firing wide when well-placed for the USA before Zapolski got behind a solid effort from Jakub Nakladal at the other end. But there would be no winner until Koukal wrapped it up in the shoot-out.

However, the Board stressed in its Decision that it was merely lifting the provisional suspension and not rendering a final decision on the merits of the Case, thereby allowing the Disciplinary Board to reopen the Case at any time if further evidence is uncovered.

The IIHF acknowledges the Decision of the Disciplinary Board in this matter, and would like to add that this Decision in no way detracts from the important fight against match fixing or from the fact that all players, coaches and officials who are found to have committed an integrity violation, will be held accountable according to the IIHF Code of Conduct. ]]>on rightWed, 21 Feb 2018 09:50:00 +0100